APNU SIGNS THE REVISED CODE OF CONDUCT
November 12, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Source - Kaieteur News
History was made yesterday when APNU signed a revised code of conduct drafted by the Guyana Elections Commission.
Reports in the media suggest that almost immediately after, APNU accused the ruling party of being in breach of the code for distributing land leases to farmers who were to be relocated because of historical flooding. The alleged breach is said to involve a section of the code which prohibits parties from engaging in illegal and corrupt practices, including inducement and election bribery.
APNU is obviously making a fool of itself by trying this tactic. It is not that dense that cannot understand what is an illegal or corrupt practice. The offering of leases is not an illegal or corrupt practice, and neither is it and inducement bribery.
When an election code of conduct speaks to inducement it means a direct payment for votes. There were reports in the past in other countries- not Guyana- that persons were paid sums to go and vote. That is not only an inducement it is unlawful.
APNU therefore cannot make a fool of itself by pronouncing that the distribution of leases, or even for that matter laptops constitutes an illegal and unlawful practice since if such a selective construction of the word inducement is used it would mean that all political parties could be found guilty since any promise made on the campaign trail could be deemed as an inducement to the electorate.
Part of the problem with APNU is that because it is a new partnership it may be entering these elections with personnel that have never had any experience in running an election campaign.
In Guyana there is a great deal of work to be done in preparing for an election and while campaigning has now become a science, there is no substitute for having experienced hands on board, especially in a country like Guyana where mobilization and organization often requires persons familiar with these tasks.
It would seem as if APNU is in a relaxed mood months before the election because it has a great deal of time to waste on trivialities.
Why did it sign a code of conduct that it obviously does not understand? Is it fair now for GECOM to have to sit APNU down on its leg and instruct it, like a nursery school child on what the various provisions of the code means?
APNU has to stop wasting the time of the Guyanese people. It needs to get its act together if it is going to be taken seriously. A great deal of unnecessary time was wasted in having the code revised simply because APNU did not have a good understanding of what constituted equitable access. From this objection it seems as if APNU expected the state-owned television station to grant it one hour per week instead of five minutes.
If it is so confident that this is what constitutes equitable access, it should try obtaining one hour free time per day from the private television stations and see how difficult it is.
The government has the benefit of incumbency. When the PNCR was in power it also had that advantage. It is usual as elections near for ruling parties to time development to coincide with elections. It is going to take a dumb party not to have late rush of construction and handouts just prior to an election.
If APNU also feels that the eight per cent handout is an illegal inducement, it should urge its supporters not to collect it. Right now there are persons peddling silly rumors about the government using the one laptop programme to spy on citizens. This is an attempt to have persons not collect these computers.
But it is those who believe this nonsense that are going to suffer.
No wonder some of the PNCR traditional supporters are leaving for the PPP. They have lost confidence in APNU and the PNCR, and the more APNU concentrates on things that are not going to win it votes, the more support it is going to lose.
APNU needs to get its act together. It still has support in the country but even its die-hard support will eventually lose faith in it if it continues with the silliness about the government offering inducements.
The code of conduct refers to inducements in a context. The context is the illegal or unlawful direct payment of bribes for people to votes. The eight per cent wage increase, the laptop distribution and the distribution of land leases are not corrupt or illegal inducements or bribes.
If that were the case, the ruling party would never have signed.
APNU needs to be clear of what it signs because the next excuse it will be making is that it does not like the type of paper on which the ballots are printed since this could give an advantage to the ruling party.
And what is APNU making all the fuss about? By now it should be clear that it cannot win the elections.
November 12, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Source - Kaieteur News
History was made yesterday when APNU signed a revised code of conduct drafted by the Guyana Elections Commission.
Reports in the media suggest that almost immediately after, APNU accused the ruling party of being in breach of the code for distributing land leases to farmers who were to be relocated because of historical flooding. The alleged breach is said to involve a section of the code which prohibits parties from engaging in illegal and corrupt practices, including inducement and election bribery.
APNU is obviously making a fool of itself by trying this tactic. It is not that dense that cannot understand what is an illegal or corrupt practice. The offering of leases is not an illegal or corrupt practice, and neither is it and inducement bribery.
When an election code of conduct speaks to inducement it means a direct payment for votes. There were reports in the past in other countries- not Guyana- that persons were paid sums to go and vote. That is not only an inducement it is unlawful.
APNU therefore cannot make a fool of itself by pronouncing that the distribution of leases, or even for that matter laptops constitutes an illegal and unlawful practice since if such a selective construction of the word inducement is used it would mean that all political parties could be found guilty since any promise made on the campaign trail could be deemed as an inducement to the electorate.
Part of the problem with APNU is that because it is a new partnership it may be entering these elections with personnel that have never had any experience in running an election campaign.
In Guyana there is a great deal of work to be done in preparing for an election and while campaigning has now become a science, there is no substitute for having experienced hands on board, especially in a country like Guyana where mobilization and organization often requires persons familiar with these tasks.
It would seem as if APNU is in a relaxed mood months before the election because it has a great deal of time to waste on trivialities.
Why did it sign a code of conduct that it obviously does not understand? Is it fair now for GECOM to have to sit APNU down on its leg and instruct it, like a nursery school child on what the various provisions of the code means?
APNU has to stop wasting the time of the Guyanese people. It needs to get its act together if it is going to be taken seriously. A great deal of unnecessary time was wasted in having the code revised simply because APNU did not have a good understanding of what constituted equitable access. From this objection it seems as if APNU expected the state-owned television station to grant it one hour per week instead of five minutes.
If it is so confident that this is what constitutes equitable access, it should try obtaining one hour free time per day from the private television stations and see how difficult it is.
The government has the benefit of incumbency. When the PNCR was in power it also had that advantage. It is usual as elections near for ruling parties to time development to coincide with elections. It is going to take a dumb party not to have late rush of construction and handouts just prior to an election.
If APNU also feels that the eight per cent handout is an illegal inducement, it should urge its supporters not to collect it. Right now there are persons peddling silly rumors about the government using the one laptop programme to spy on citizens. This is an attempt to have persons not collect these computers.
But it is those who believe this nonsense that are going to suffer.
No wonder some of the PNCR traditional supporters are leaving for the PPP. They have lost confidence in APNU and the PNCR, and the more APNU concentrates on things that are not going to win it votes, the more support it is going to lose.
APNU needs to get its act together. It still has support in the country but even its die-hard support will eventually lose faith in it if it continues with the silliness about the government offering inducements.
The code of conduct refers to inducements in a context. The context is the illegal or unlawful direct payment of bribes for people to votes. The eight per cent wage increase, the laptop distribution and the distribution of land leases are not corrupt or illegal inducements or bribes.
If that were the case, the ruling party would never have signed.
APNU needs to be clear of what it signs because the next excuse it will be making is that it does not like the type of paper on which the ballots are printed since this could give an advantage to the ruling party.
And what is APNU making all the fuss about? By now it should be clear that it cannot win the elections.